Daily Devotions from The Word Of God… From the heart of Ed Algreen

Posts tagged ‘Earnest prayer’

TEXT: 1 …. “The Lord says, ‘You will die soon, so you should tell your family what they should do when you die. You will not get well.’”

2 Hezekiah turned his face to the wall that faced the Temple and began praying to the Lord.3 “Lord, remember that I have sincerely served you with all my heart. I have done what you say is good.” Then Hezekiah cried very hard.

4 Before Isaiah had left the middle courtyard, he received this message from the Lord,5 “Go back and speak to Hezekiah, the leader of my people. Tell him, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of your ancestor David, says: I heard your prayer and I saw your tears, so I will heal you. On the third day you will go up to the Temple of the Lord.6 I will add 15 years to your life….

OBSERVATION:Hezekiah had been very diligent in serving God faithfully as he ruled over Judah, so the news of his impending death came as a quick, shortened life, decision to him. In fact, he was so determined to carry out more of his plans, that he quickly turned to God in very earnest prayer, to ask for more time. God gave him 15 more years, but take note in vs 5 that God not only heard his wish for more time, but He saw his tears. You may pray in secret to the Father, but always remember that He knows the innermost thoughts of each one who approaches His throne of grace.

APPLICATION:Often we will allow anything to roll from our lips that we feel like the audience might expect to hear from us, or that we think they really need to hear at that moment. Unfortunately I believe that corporate prayer pulls that sort of prayer from saints. Friends, I believe that if we could go before the Master with all walls broken down, and in total openness and transparency, then God will hear the cry of our hearts without all the frills. In fact, I would dare say that we would be willing to share the ‘un-edited’ version of our prayers! Notice also that in a public setting, we may not be willing to allow our emotions to show. In our Scripture, the king (Hezekiah) prayed so sincerely that he ‘cried very hard’. This sounds like a prayer filled with emotion, and I believe that we will do the same when we pray to the Father in a private setting, just as we might do when discussing intimate things with our spouse. In other words, I believe that we would be more apt to be ‘real’ when in private and desperate prayer with our Father. Now friends, please know that I am not condemning corporate prayer, for it is times like that, where you will realize that God is still answering prayer, that He still hears the prayers of His children, and the sweetness in hearing someone else lifting up your prayer need before the Master and ultimate Healer. These are the times that young Christians learn to pray; they will also gain encouragement from hearing your prayer and knowing that they too can ask God for their own wishes. I heard someone say at one time, that we should pray for needs as if it was our son or daughter in need of prayer! Do you see how we might get more sincere,serious, and urgent about a prayer like that? I believe that it was that kind of deep sincerity that king Hezekiah went before God with.

PRAYER:Lord Jesus, there are many needs that we may come before You with, and we will often keep them in such general form that I’m sure You must wonder how serious we are. I pray in deepest earnest that You may touch the hearts of each church member in my city, county, state and nation. If we were playing church, then we would become a member and continue doing what we’ve always done. While this may, unfortunately, be exactly what many have done, I want to plead with You from the bottom of my heart that the church will be ‘the church’ – ‘Your church’. Others will have no desire to know You, if they see us pretending, or uncommitted, or pleasing the crowd instead of preaching, teaching and praying Your Word. Please touch the hearts of Your children today, and help us to seriously petition the throne of grace for the unsaved and the uncommitted, and may Your church catch fire from the revival that will result! I ask these things believing in the power of the Almighty, AMEN!

FOOTNOTE:There are two more pages on my blog that will provide you with additional information, one of them being ‘To Know Jesus’. If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please click on the above page, or speak with a local Bible Teaching Pastor, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com. Please allow someone to pray with you and give you help and/or encouragement as you begin, or continue your walk with Jesus. Words underlined in my blog could indicate a link to a song that came to mind as I wrote the devotional. Feel free to click on the link and listen as you continue to read or pray. If this devotional was forwarded to you and you would like to see more, please go to Nuggets From God’s Wordand read more, or you may freely to subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day’s devotional. If you are anywhere near the Sebring, Florida area and do not have a church home, I would be thrilled to welcome you atBible Fellowship Church, located at 3750 Hammock Rd, Sebring, FL 33872! Click the link to check out service times and/or other special activities. God is at work among us! Please consider coming to worship with us!